Various cushioning devices or pillows have been developed whereby the shape of the pillow is designed to provide support for a body member of the user. Typical examples of such pillows or cushions can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,513,462 (neck support); 3,574,397 (head support); 4,324,012 and 4,535,495 (back support); and 4,031,578, 4,218,792, 4,320,543 and 4,550,459 (head and neck support). To provide such support, these cushions were constructed and designed to conform the shape of the body part to be supported.
Conventional pillows are usually filled with a cushioning material of cotton, feathers, sponge rubber, and/or foam. The sponge or foam fillers may be in the form of chunks or particles. Such pillows can be manipulated to conform to the shape of the body part to be supported. If the construction of the pillow is too stiff, however, it becomes difficult to conform the shape of the pillow to the body part. Conversely, if the pillow is too soft, depressions are easily formed, and the proper support of the body member is not achieved. Furthermore, the shaping capabilities of such conventional pillows are rather limited. Often, the filler simply packs into a dense mass and loses its resiliency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,871 discloses an improvement on the previous devices in that the internal cavity of the cushion is filled with a layer of fibrous textile filler positioned in a particular manner to provide a cushion which retains its shape more effectively and imparts improved cushioning resistance.
None of these prior art cushioning devices is capable, however, of being easily shaped to the desired configuration to provide support, while retaining sufficient resiliency to maintain the desired shape until it is changed by the user. Furthermore, if the pillow cannot be conformed the exact shape needed for support, the user can feel displeasure, discomfort, or pain.